New Delhi, India

Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya, who represented Australia at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, has died at the age of 20 after falling out of the window in Moscow, her coach said on Saturday.

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While there was no immediate comment from Russian law enforcement agencies, Alexandrovskaya’s coach Andrei Khekalo told AFP that the Olympian had fallen from the sixth-floor window in central Moscow.

Reports in Russian media suggest that Alexandrovskaya left a note reading "Lyublyu (I love)", hinting towards a possible suicide.

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Khekalo further said that Alexandrovskaya missed a training session in January and was later diagnosed with epilepsy and quit the sport. He added that she was suffering from depression even before she was diagnosed with epilepsy. 

"I tried to get her to stay in sport at my own peril," Khekalo said.

He said she was particularly good at pairs skating. "She was fearless. She was like a fish in the water," he added.

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After being overlooked by the Russian system, Alexandrovskaya switched countries and went on to partner up with Harley Windsor, who eventually became Australia’s first Aborginal athlete to take part in the Winter Olympics. The pair was crowned world junior champions in 2017, claiming Australia’s first global figure skating title and getting the nod for the Olympics in Pyeongchang. 

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Windsor said he was "devastated and sick to my core about the sad and sudden passing of Katia".

"The amount we had achieved during our partnership is something I can never forget and will always hold close to my heart," he said in a statement on Instagram.

Peter Lynch, president at Ice Skating Australia, called Alexandrovskaya "a brilliant athlete with incredible drive and determination".

She and Windsor "did what many thought impossible", he said in a statement.

"Together they created greatness that will rest in the Australian record books for many years."

(With inputs from AFP)